Internationally acclaimed poet and stage actress Lebo Mashile will perform in East London for the first time on Saturday.
Mashile will headline the Stand Up Poetry event at the City Life Church in Quigney featuring other popular local poets such as Simbone and Poetic Soul.
Organiser Bandile Magibili of Alphabetic Art has for the past few years been running poetry sessions around East London.
These sessions have given artists like Busiswa and Zahara – who have now become household names – a platform for their talents to be discovered.
Magibili said that the aim of the event was to try to establish the local poetry industry because “there is so much talent and potential in our town”.
“Poets could make a living in East London. It’s just that there is a shortage of proper platforms for them to shine.
“That is what I am doing here,” Magibili said.
“Instead of just hosting an open mic session that always ends in a mess, I have opted to start hosting events that will have a set line-up, which will rotate from month to month.”
Mashile described herself as a poet, performer, MC, television presenter and women’s rights activist, but said words were her first love.
“I fell in love with literature at a very young age. I was that child who had her nose glued to a book all the time,” Mashile said.
“Then I fell in love with hip hop, and for me the two just went together.”
Mashile said it was only when she was at university that she started sharing her poetry.
She captured the country when she came out with her hip hop-inspired poetry, which was a relatively new sound.
“In 2003 I co-founded the ‘Feel-a-Sista!’ Spoken Word Collective alongside Myesha Jenkins, Ntsiki Mazwai and Napo Masheane, which rapidly gained widespread popularity,” she said.
She has published two anthologies, titled In a Ribbon of Love and Flying Above the Sky.
Mashile said she was excited to be performing in East London.
“It’s a place that is so rich in history and culture and for me to get to a chance to share the stage with local acts is so fulfilling because I know what it’s like to be young and unknown.”
lThe show starts at 8pm. Tickets are R150. To book, call 078-167-0719. — ziphon@dispatch.co.za
‘Hip hop’ poet to perform in EL
Mashile will headline the Stand Up Poetry event at the City Life Church in Quigney featuring other popular local poets such as Simbone and Poetic Soul.
Organiser Bandile Magibili of Alphabetic Art has for the past few years been running poetry sessions around East London.
These sessions have given artists like Busiswa and Zahara – who have now become household names – a platform for their talents to be discovered.
Magibili said that the aim of the event was to try to establish the local poetry industry because “there is so much talent and potential in our town”.
“Poets could make a living in East London. It’s just that there is a shortage of proper platforms for them to shine.
“That is what I am doing here,” Magibili said.
“Instead of just hosting an open mic session that always ends in a mess, I have opted to start hosting events that will have a set line-up, which will rotate from month to month.”
Mashile described herself as a poet, performer, MC, television presenter and women’s rights activist, but said words were her first love.
“I fell in love with literature at a very young age. I was that child who had her nose glued to a book all the time,” Mashile said.
“Then I fell in love with hip hop, and for me the two just went together.”
Mashile said it was only when she was at university that she started sharing her poetry.
She captured the country when she came out with her hip hop-inspired poetry, which was a relatively new sound.
“In 2003 I co-founded the ‘Feel-a-Sista!’ Spoken Word Collective alongside Myesha Jenkins, Ntsiki Mazwai and Napo Masheane, which rapidly gained widespread popularity,” she said.
She has published two anthologies, titled In a Ribbon of Love and Flying Above the Sky.
Mashile said she was excited to be performing in East London.
“It’s a place that is so rich in history and culture and for me to get to a chance to share the stage with local acts is so fulfilling because I know what it’s like to be young and unknown.”
lThe show starts at 8pm. Tickets are R150. To book, call 078-167-0719. — ziphon@dispatch.co.za
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